Background processes are annoying, if I notice them (and they're not doing anything that helps me in an obvious way).

But the main thing that makes me uninstall apps is that I use them infrequently but they want to update frequently. If you want to update a lot, you had better make an app I use a lot.

You do realize that The Jungle is a work of fiction, right?

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.html

Here's a US DOT study that definitely hurts the idea that speed limits increase safety.

Safety statistics and studies concerning Germany's Autobahn system (feel free to look for them, I don't have time at the moment to search deeper) have suggested that speed is not the problem, but the way people actually drive is. Stay left if you are faster, right if you are slower, and yield the left lanes to anyone going faster than you.

Being tough on crime doesn't win votes, though. It's a common myth, but it isn't true. Making people scared of what might happen if you elect the other major party's candidate is what gets votes these days.

The thing about safe driving is, nothing these machines do can measure it. This tracking is the automotive equivalent of polygraph in terms of accuracy.

I don't know that I'd say almost entirely. I'd call it more of a mix. The US and its local governments cling to their traditions and institutions regardless of whether they work, and that includes our existing criminal justice facilities and institutions.

That would be less problematic if our prison system at present weren't operated in such a fashion as to make these individuals even more dangerous and damaged than when they came in, and then continually discriminate afterwards in ways that make it unlikely for them to be successful after release. We really need to take a look at which countries successfully release prisoners who go on to lead lawful, fruitful lives, and then emulate those systems.

I disagree with your assertion of "should". If "should" were a valid argument, we'd have a very, very different world.

Can't say I'm in favor of developing the moon, but when I sit back and think about it, it seems inevitable. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though.

The corporate entity known as Cisco isn't the one who pays the taxes. Uncle Sam gets his cut when they pay their employees, shareholders (if they get payouts, of course), and in other regulatory fees.

Accounting is a strange world, my friend, but you'll find that in the big picture, Cisco is making a lot of money for the government even if they aren't paying it directly.

Even then, most of the numbers used on both sides by zealot laymen are either made up or are fictions being vaguely alluded to. I don't anticipate a change on that level.

That's exactly why I'm concerned about the proliferation of human-less war. It's exactly what warlords have always wanted. A conscienceless, completely expendable warrior.

The TSA exists because after 9/11 people demanded that the government do something to make us safer.

No, the TSA exists because the people in office wanted to look like they were doing something. And most Americans went along with it, just like the rest of the whole "war on terror" list of nonsense.

You have a lot more confidence in the effectiveness of bans than I do.

what's really interesting is that they'll have to be careful, lest they contradict the documents Snowden appropriated. We already have no reason to trust them. If they want us to believe them, they're going to have to use such opportunities to be verifiable rather than "take our word for it".